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Lord of the Flies (LotF) by William Golding
An overview – Copy text that is highlighted in red
William Golding
William Golding
• Born in Cornwall 1911
• His mother was a strong supporter of the suffragette movement
• His father, Alec, was a school teacher who was a believer of the philosophy of rationalism
• Rationalism is the idea that humans are capable of perfection
Continued
• During his early years, William believed his father’s theories.
• His father’s theories would influence his writing, including Lord of the Flies.
• Golding attended Brasenose College at Oxford in 1930, studying science.
• He switched to literature in 1933 and graduated in 1935 with a B.A in English and a diploma in education
Continued• During his Oxford days Golding began to
disregard his father’s philosophy. This can be seen in a series of his early poems.
• Golding cited Greek tragedies and Shakespeare as his literary influences.
• In 1939 began teaching at Bishop Wordsworth’s School. He taught English and philosophy.
• That same year he married Ann Brookfield, with whom he had 2 children.
Continued
• Golding spent 5 years in the Royal Navy during WWII.
• Golding saw German submarines, ships and aircraft destroyed during his time in the navy, which also influenced his writing.
• Golding was involved in D-Day operations.
• He retired from the navy as a Lieutenant Commander.
• He died in Cornwall in 1993.
Notable Works
• Poems published in MacMillan’s Contemporary Poets series published between 1933-1935.
• Lord of the Flies published 1954
• The Inheritors published 1955
• Pincher Martin published 1956
• The Pyramid published 1967
• The Scorpion God published 1971
Themes
• A number of themes run through the majority of Golding’s works. The primary themes of Lord of the Flies are:
• Imperialism, human nature, the conflict between good and evil, civilisation, savagery, spirituality, identity, loss of innocence, evil, fear, leadership, warfare, nature.
Lord of the Flies
• Set on an unknown Pacific island during a nuclear world war.
• A group of boys try to survive by themselves, without the help of adults.
Symbolism…
• Lord of the Flies is full of symbolism and allegory
• Symbolism is ‘the use of symbols (images/writing) to represent an idea or qualities’.
E.g. A cross represents Jesus dying for peoples sins.
• Symbolism in LotF’s includes physical objects, the title of the novel, and the characters themselves.
Characters
• Ralph – the elected leader (protagonist)
• Jack – leader of the hunters (antagonist)
• Piggy – Ralph’s advisor
• Simon – a choir boy
• Sam and Eric – identical twins
• Roger – Loyal to Jack
• Percival Wemys Madison – one of the smallest boys
You do:
• As a class, discuss human nature: what is learned and what is instinctive?
• Complete the “I predict activity”
Bibliography:
1) Kelly, Maureen. Cliffs Notes: Lord of the Flies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: New York, 2000.
2) Herman, Linda. Lord of the Flies, William Golding: New Ways to Teach Reading, Writing, and the Love of Literature. Novel Units: Texas, 2013.
3) Golding, William, ed. Epstein, E.L. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Group: New York, 1954 (this edition 2007).